Thursday, April 17, 2014

I seem to still be in winter, not a winter of discontent, it is more like apathy. The weather is right there with me even though it is April. I am still expecting that spring will make things better, that I will find some energy to care enough to do more than just hide away in my art. I am doing things but just still feel like I am slogging through mud. So blogging is still in the category of 'who cares, what does it matter anyway'. Today I read a blog post by someone else and that made me remember my own blog, and I really don't want to abandon it just because I feel like it is pointless and too much work. I know that this feeling will pass....eventually.
I have not been felting. I have been doing a lot with pastels. It has been very therapeutic, I lose myself in them because it is so new to me. There is so much to learn. I am determined to try to paint everyday....and have managed to do some most days but it is easy because it is so new. Here is what I have done since the last post.

These pieces I am done with; AKA, some I am happy with, some I am just not interested in putting anymore time into.

This painting was working on some cold press watercolor paper that I applied an acrylic pastel ground to. I did not like the texture.

This cat was done for a challenge on WetCanvas about using color to depict a black object. Here are the colors I used.

This little painting I did to play with some of the new colors I bought on a shopping trip with my sister who I got addicted to pastels.

This painting I even framed. It is an image that I did in felt years ago. Here is that felt.

It is one that I did not do any needle felting on, leaving the lines very squiggly.

This painting I really liked but I knew something was really off about the composition. I asked for comments about cropping it on WetCanvas. One idea was to make it square.

One suggestion was that I really have two paintings, a skyscape....

And a seascape.

I would like to frame it but that involves a decision.
This is another piece that just does not work because of the composition. I never felt that composition was hard for me. In fact in school teachers would point out how I added this or that to make a good composition when I had no idea that that was what I was doing. The advice I get is to figure out what my painting is about. I guess it has to be more than just making a pretty picture.

Here is the piece I am working on now. I plan on finishing it today.

I also made a start on a color pencil drawing, but it has been sitting for quite a while.

I do think I will get back to it since I actually finished that Sunlit Grapes piece after it sat for years. I am very pleased to say that it got into theAcademic Artists Association 64th Annual National Exhibition of Contemporary Realism. I probably would not have entered it if I knew it was a national exhibit...I am honored. I went to the opening and could not believe the works there, or that mine was hanging with them! My photos do not do them justice.

About Me

Serendipity brought feltmaking into my life at a time when I needed to reconnect with the past and find a way to express my artistic side beyond my rigid dictionary illustration work. The softness of the fibers, the feel of the soapy water, the magic moment when the loose fibers become felt appealed to my unfulfilled need to use my fingers to manipulate the medium. It often feels as though I am just a facilitator for the art, as though the pieces have their own need to be created. There is a kind of conversation that flows from my mind and through my hands into the wool and back again, and during this exchange the questioning mind quiets. My landscapes reflect this sense of peace, creating worlds that invite the viewer to enter and rest in solitude. Through light and shade, the flowing organic lines, and the play of the varying colors the rush and rigidity of daily life falls away. The incredible range of techniques and materials that can be used in felting sustains my enthusiasm and the unpredictability of the way the fibers will blend has encouraged me to let go of the notion that a good artist is one that can render objects that appear realistic. Felting frees my soul.